“Bailly goes to surgery – the decision is made. I don’t say [he’s out] for the rest of the season but it’s for the next two or three months.

“But now we have [Phil] Jones back and we have [Chris] Smalling, even [Daley] Blind, so it’s a position we have good cover in but of course we’ll miss the player.”

As well as Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Daley Blind as options at centre-back, we also have Victor Lindelof and Marcos Rojo to help get us through the next two to three months, including the busy Christmas period that has just started.

Eric Bailly also spent time on the sidelines around this time last year before heading to the African Cup of Nations in January. He will not be part of next summer’s World Cup as the Ivory Coast failed to qualify.